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Twig beetles latest to attack Colorado forests

Associated Press

Posted:
07/07/2010 11:55:56 AM MDT

Updated:
07/07/2010 11:57:39 AM MDT

In this Aug. 24, 2006 picture, a mountain pine beetle crawls out of a ponderosa pine tree while another, right, remains in its hole in Green Mountain Falls, Colo. Strong wind, recent rain, melting snow and a beetle infestation have become a dangerous combination in the forests of Colorado and Wyoming. (AP file photo)

FRISCO, Colo. — As if the beetles that have killed millions of pine trees in the Rockies weren't enough, there's a new bug looking to eat what the others haven't.

Colorado forest officials say the latest troublesome bug is the twig beetle, which is attacking smaller trees the pine beetle has overlooked.

The pine beetles have ravaged more than 3 million trees in Colorado and southern Wyoming. Like the pine beetle, the twig beetle burrows under the bark, feeds on the tree's living tissue and shuts down the circulatory system.

Twig beetles are smaller than pine beetles, which are about the size of a match head. Twig beetles prefer branches and young trees.

"You have trees that have survived the mountain pine beetle epidemic that are now being attacked by the twig beetle," said Bob Cain, a U.S. Forest Service entomologist.

Colorado State Forest Service officials first saw high numbers of the twig beetle last summer.

"We've been doing some periodic field monitoring to see what this bark beetle is going to do," said a district forester Ron Cousineau in Summit County. "Right now, we just don't know to what extent it's going spread or how much impact it's going to have."

The twig beetle outbreak isn't expected to be as severe or long-lasting as the pine beetle epidemic in Summit County, in part because there aren't many living lodgepole pines left.

"I think it's going to be a matter of beetles using up the resources that are available. Maybe for the next year or two, we'll have continued evidence of high populations," Cain said.

Federal officials have approved $30 million to battle the pine beetles in Colorado, where communities fear the dead trees pose a huge wildfire risk. There's also concern about the potential damage to waterways if the huge swaths of dead trees burn and erosion occurs. Colorado's mountains are the headwaters for several major river systems.

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